You're probably correct about it being hard to make a decent iOS app in Swift Playgrounds, but it's definitely not a toy
I use it for work several times per week. I often want to test out some Swift API, or build something in SwiftUI, and for some reason it's way faster to tap it out on my iPad in Swift Playgrounds than to create a new project or playground in Xcode on my Mac — even when I'm sitting directly in front of my Mac
The iPad just doesn't have the clutter of windows and communication open like my mac does that makes it hard to focus on resolving one particular idea
I have so many playground files on my iPad, a quick glance at my project list: interactive gesture-driven animations, testing out time and date logic, rendering perceptual gradients, checking baseline alignment in SF Symbols, messing with NSFilePresenter, mocking out a UI design, animated text transitions, etc
Why would you need it? Modern iPads have thunderbolt ports (minimally USB-C) and already allow keyboards, network adapters, etc. to be connected. It would be like an iMac without the stand and an option to put it in a keyboard enclosure. Sounds awesome.
It might work if running in Mac mode required a reboot (no on the fly switching between iOS and macOS) and a connected KB+mouse, with the touch part of the screen (aside from Pencil usage) turning inert in Mac mode.
Otherwise yes, desktop operating systems are a terrible experience on touch devices.
> It might work if running in Mac mode required a reboot (no on the fly switching between iOS and macOS) and a connected KB+mouse, with the touch part of the screen (aside from Pencil usage) turning inert in Mac mode.
Sounds like strictly worse version of Macbook. Might be useful for occasional work, but I expect people who would use this mode continuously just to switch to Macbook.
The biggest market would be for travelers who essentially want a work/leisure toggle.
It’s not too uncommon for people to carry both an iPad and MacBook for example, but a 12.9” iPad that could reboot into macOS to get some work done and then drop back to iPadOS for watching movies or sketching could replace both without too much sacrifice. There’s tradeoffs, but nothing worse than what you see on PC 2-in-1’s, plus no questionable hinges to fail.
This is what I want, but with an iPhone (with an iPad would be cool, too). Sell me some insanely expensive dock with a USB-C display port output for a monitor (and a few more for peripherals) and when the phone is plugged in, it becomes macOS.
Maybe this June there'll be an announcement, but like Lucy with the football, I'm not expecting it. I would instabuy if this was the case, especially with a cellular iPad.
I just went to store.apple.com and specced out a 13" iPad Pro with 2TB of storage, nano-texture glass, and a cell modem for $2,599.
MacBook Pros start at $1,599. There's an enormous overlap in the price ranges of the mortal-person models of those products. It's not like the iPad Pro is the cheap alternative to a MBP. I mean, I couldn't even spec out a MacBook Air to cost as much.
